DAVID CRONENBERG'S SHIVERS (1975): THE BIRTH OF BODY HORROR?

SHIVERS (1975) d. David Cronenberg (Canada)

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1975’s Shivers aka They Came from Within is a wonderfully squirmy milestone in Canadian horror cinema... and horror cinema in general, in that it announced writer/director David Cronenberg to moviegoers everywhere, and the world has never been the same since.

DAVID CRONENBERG'S THE BROOD (1979): ALIVE AT 45!!!

THE BROOD (1979) d. David Cronenberg (Canada)

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Canadian writer/director David Cronenberg has become so synonymous with the term “body-horror” that when a project is referred to as being “Cronenbergian,” we actually have an idea of what this might mean. Cronenberg has often said that he does not see disease and mutations as good or bad – they simply are – a viewpoint that shows up time and again in his cinematic output.

CRIMES OF THE FUTURE (2022) Round Table Movie Review

CRIMES OF THE FUTURE (2022) d. David Cronenberg

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Join AC and his awesome panel of guests (Aaron AuBuchon, Christianne Benedict, Mackenzie Parker, Dominic Conti) as they discuss the legendary David Cronenberg's first return to his sci-fi/horror roots since 1999's Existenz. The Master hasn't lost his touch for the bizarre and the beautiful.

THREE RING KING SPRING FLING: CUJO, CHRISTINE, and THE DEAD ZONE at 40!!!

CUJO (1983) d. Lewis Teague (USA)
THE DEAD ZONE (1983) d. David Cronenberg (USA)
CHRISTINE (1983) d. John Carpenter (USA)

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Four decades ago, in the latter half of 1983, three films based on the works of a rising horror star hit theaters. Having already attracted such established veterans Stanley Kubrick and George A. Romero, as well as rising stars like Brian De Palma and Tobe Hooper, to helm the big-screen adaptations of his novels, STEPHEN KING was quickly becoming a pop culture icon, such that having his name attached to a project (almost) insured box office success.

SCANNER COP (1994) / SCANNER COP II (1995) Movie Review

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Belgian filmmaker and horror enthusiast Gert Verbeeck is back in the Doc's office, this time to talk about a couple of belated sequels to David Cronenberg's 1980 class-sick, SCANNERS. Apparently, the Canadian wunderkind signed away the rights to his characters at some point to producer Pierre David, who decided to crank out Scanners II and Scanners III (both 1991), and then these two law enforcement-themed flicks three years later!

JASON X (2001) movie review

Jason X (2001) d. Isaac, James (USA) (3rd viewing) 93 min

While the concept (“Jason in Space”) smacks of utter desperation, this ended up being the most fun to be had at a Friday the 13th movie in ages. Granted, the loony plot asks its audience to check its brain at the door and just go along for the ride, but it’s a heck of a great ride, combining elements of The Terminator, Aliens, The Matrix and half a dozen other movies into a boffo bloody smorgasbord.

NIGHTBREED (1990) Director's Cut Blu-Ray Review

Nightbreed (1990) d. Barker, Clive (USA)

Based on his novel Cabal, Clive Barker’s follow-up to Hellraiser exhibits as many of that film’s strengths (vivid, original storyline, exemplary makeup effects) as its weaknesses (uneven performances, gore without scares, jarring jokes). Craig Sheffer stars as Boone, a troubled mental patient whose implication in a series of violent murders leads him to Midian, an underground “other-world.” Within this subterranean city, we encounter the “Nightbreed,” a wonderfully grotesque collection of freaks and mutants (wonderfully realized by makeup designer Paul L. Jones) that populate the shadows of the human world, unable to venture into the light.

SCANNERS (1981) movie review

Scanners (1981) d. David Cronenberg (Canada)

Convoluted yet compelling sci-fi tale from the unique imagination of writer/director David Cronenberg. Through an experimental drug given to pregnant mothers, a new race of psychic and telekinetic mutants emerges, and some of them just aren’t very nice.

THE DEAD ZONE (1983) movie review

Dead Zone, The (1983) d. Cronenberg, David (USA)

Driving home from his girlfriend’s house one rainy night, Christopher Walken crashes into a runaway jackknifed milk truck canister (certainly a genre first), ending up in a coma for the next five years. Upon awakening, he discovers that his sweetheart has married another man, but even more dramatically, he now possesses the ability to know people’s past, present or future simply by making physical contact with them.

VIDEODROME (1983) movie review

Videodrome (1983) d. Cronenberg, David (Canada)

As a cable programmer seeking to challenge the limits of the medium, James Woods becomes hooked on the pirated TV show “Videodrome,” whose lineup consists of real sex, real torture, and real murder. Before long, he finds himself entrenched in a cathode ray-conspiracy that threatens the world – or is it just all in his mind? Under the influence of the Videodrome signal, his body begins to undergo some rather discomforting alterations, such as the vagina-like orifice in his abdomen that gobbles up firearms and pulsating organic videocassettes with equal ardor.

ANTIVIRAL (2012) movie review

Antiviral (2012) d. Cronenberg, Brandon (Canada)

Considering that we’re probably not going to see Daddy David return to his horror/sci-fi roots any time soon, it’s somewhat heartening to see his offspring picking up the mantle in such an unabashed fashion. That the subject matter lives and breathes in an identifiably Cronenbergian realm almost goes without saying, but it’s a brave gesture to embrace it so fully – knowing the temptation would exist for comparisons, BC opts to meet said criticisms head on by showing us what his version of body horror looks like.

BEAST (2011) movie review

Beast (2011) d. Boe, Cristoffer (Denmark)

A rough, raw and mystifying dissection of a crumbling marriage, but this is one domestic drama you’re not likely to see on the Lifetime channel. Scraping the same gut-level, non-realistic emotional scar-tissue terrain as Cronenberg’s The Brood or closer yet, Andrzej Zulawski’s Possession, the ferocity between former soul mates Nicolas Bro and Marijana Jankovic is so visceral it cannot be contained by a conventional narrative. Instead, it operates on a metaphorical level, depicting body-horror events (which may or may not be happening) that leave viewers reeling in disorientation and fascinated revulsion. It’s an incredible high-wire collaboration between writer/director Cristoffer Boe and his three leads (Nikolaj Lie Kaas is equally effective as Jankovic’s adulterous partner) – the onscreen events are defiantly ambiguous and non-realistic, but they perfectly nail the off-balance feeling of a once raging love now cooled. Recommended.

HENGE (2012) review

Henge (2012) (1st viewing) d. Ohata, Hajime (Japan)

The best way to describe this flick is to imagine David Cronenberg, Shinya Tsukamoto and Ishiro Honda’s three-way cinematic love-child. In a little less than an hour’s running time, we witness a couple (Kazunari Aizawa, Aki Morita) attempting to cope with the husband’s increasingly violent and frequent seizures. Medical science is baffled, especially when he starts speaking in prehistoric, mystical tongues and segments of his body begin inexplicably mutating. I could have done without the patently false CGI blood splatter, but that’s a mild complaint against this brilliantly surreal taste of vibrant body horror whose final reel payoff will Blow. Your. Mind.

Fool's Views 8/8 – 8/14

Onward, you dogs!

As those who follow this Fool with any regularity have probably realized, when it comes to viewing habits, I’m a sucker for themes. Be it a common actor, director, subject matter, or title, I like to pair things up to make it interesting for both the viewer (ahem, that’s me) and the reader. This week, in addition to 2011’s ongoing Cronenberg retrospective, I found myself in the midst of a Peter Jackson festival (unexpected if not terribly surprising) and a completely unanticipated John Guillerman (Who, you ask? Read on, true believer…) triple feature, brought on by the dual factors of my recently acquired Heston bug and Jackson’s King Kong viewing from the week prior.

Also got in a couple of recent international horrors, two wickedly enjoyable indies, plus a Technicolor epic and melodrama each, just to stay regular.

As always, feel free to leave your two cents worth – we’ll make sure you get some change back.

Enjoy!